The man who drew attention to the February 9 Afzal Guru event by “inviting the media” and alerting JNU administration to “videograph” the rally where “anti-national” slogans were raised, Saurabh Kumar Sharma — ABVP member and Joint Secretary JNU student’s union (JNUSU) — said the eight “war wagers” deserved something more than sedition.
“They have waged war against our nation and must be punished with something more stringent than sedition. If the Constitution approves, hanging an anti-national is the suitable punishment,” Sharma told The Pioneer and revealed that only JNU Registrar Bhupinder Zutshi responded to his complaint about the event and directed the security to videograph the entire event.
“On February 9, I saw the poster about the event and around 11 am, I wrote to Vice-Chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar, Chief Proctor Krishnan Kumar, Registrar Zutshi, Dean of Students’ SK Goswami, but I did not get any response so I mobilised people through the social media and invited the media on the campus. Meanwhile, Zutshi told me that the administration will look into it and have alerted the security to record if any anti-national activity happens,” said Sharma, who is pursuing PhD in Neurosciences.
According to Sharma, the videos which are being used as evidence by the three-member high-level committee to enquire about the event are the ones taken by JNU security guards on orders of Zutshi.
Sharma joined JNU in 2012 and became the member of JNUSU last year. He said JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar and Umer Khalid, who are among the eight debarred students, crossed roads with him over tea in dhabas inside the campus but now he has “no empathy” towards them.
“Events where anti-India activities happen have been occurring in past as well. But everyone allowed it. The Democratic Student’s Front is banned inside the campus yet its members were seen here. It puts a big question mark on the administration,” he said.